HAVELOCK – Before the season, the Havelock Rams were adjusting to change.

The soccer team had a new coach. It was competing in a revamped and loaded Coastal Conference.

The first objective for first-year head coach Jeremiah Johnson was to beat perennial powerhouse White Oak. The next was to make the playoffs.

The Rams did both.

“You always want to win conference, you want to win all your games, but I said I want to beat White Oak. Havelock has never beaten them,” said Johnson, the 2013 Sun Journal Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year.

“It was frustrating for the boys because every time they slapped their team’s hands after a game, they would have a big state ring, and that would be like a slap in the face to them.”

Havelock topped White Oak twice, and as a bonus, defeated 16-4 Swansboro. The Rams (8-10-2, 6-6 Coastal) finished fourth in a conference that includes 3A state runner-up Jacksonville.

They won four of their five final regular-season games, setting up a first-round playoff match with Jacksonville.

Havelock lost 3-1, with a goal from senior Noah Kemble, but it was still a solid season for the Rams.

“We got an unlucky draw against Jacksonville in the first round,” Johnson said. “We did pretty well against them. It was the closest Havelock has played to Jacksonville.”

The Rams had loads of talent, sparked by 2013 Sun Journal Player of the Year Noah Kemble (20 goals). Kevin Quinn and Miguel Diaz-Maurino both netted 10 goals.

“(Noah) made some crucial goals at some crucial moments. I tried to keep him from being up top because I needed his size and ability in the midfield to be able to control the pace,” Johnson said.

“The talent we had on the team, there is no way we should have finished fourth in the conference. We should have been given a good shot at second, if not first.”

Johnson, in his second year at the school, was an assistant under Jeffrey Harris last season.

He was born in Fayetteville, grew up in Southern Pines and played soccer at Pinecrest High School He also coached at Union Pines High School.

His philosophy has been the same no matter where he’s been.

“I’ve always believed in having fun. It’s a sport we love, you have to have fun. If you don’t have fun, then what’s the point of playing,” Johnson said.

“From there, you have to give it 100 percent. If not, we are not going to be successful. You have to have that same attitude on the practice field.”

The Rams had 12 seniors, and a foreign exchange student, to provide leadership.